Please check out the web page http://challenge.nm.org for the great photos from Awards Day. You'll also find links to the great news coverage the Challenge received.

We loved celebrating with you last week. Please remember if you received a scholarship or an award that you need to write a thank you note to the sponsor. Please email us if you don't know the person who should get the note.

Name plates are being made for the winners plaques and trophies and we'll mail those to you as soon as we get them from the company that is making them. The order for new trophies and plaques and corrected plaques has also been placed.

School Board Meetings

While your project is still clear in your mind, it might be a good time for you to schedule a presentation with your local school board or PTA to share your learnings and about the Supercomputing Challenge. You might also write a press release about your accomplishments. Melrose High presents Challenge participants' certificates at their local awards ceremony.

You might ask your school board or PTA to set aside some money to support your teams for next year, line items for buses, teacher substitutes, registration fees, etc.

Summer Teacher Institute

Teachers, join us for the evening of July 8th - July 20th for our annual institute, this year at CNM in Albuquerque. The camaraderie is one good reason to join. Just write to Consult with your interest.

Lost and Found

We have a long sleeved black t-shirt that someone left at the Awards Ceremony.

Best Wishes

We may not be sending out too many more Monday Morning Messages (or Tuesday Morning Messages) this year, but know that consult is always there to support you.

Best wishes finishing off this semester. Plan to participate in the Challenge next year. Seniors, best wishes for your college career or whatever path you choose to take. Remember, you can still participate in the Challenge as a mentor, judge or helper.

Monday Morning Message, April 16, 2007

Next week this time, we hope to see your shining faces in Los Alamos. You will have brought with you appropriate clothes for presenting and walking, a Display Board, and anything else you need for your presentation. You may be rooming with students from another school, so do bring your good manners also. It is optional to bring a Graphical Poster. If you are bringing a laptop, make sure you have submitted the necessary paperwork and make sure your laptop's battery is fully charged when you come to the Library

The Expo will take place in the Research Library and Study Center at the Los Alamos National Laboratory's TA-3 site (see the detailed map). Breakfast is in your hotel. Registration opens at 8:00.

Details can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/expo

The finalist judges have a conference call this Wednesday afternoon and the first round of finalists will then be posted on the web.

Current expo schedules are available at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/exposchedule.shtml

During the tours, three awards need your input. You vote for the student or teacher choice and for the best logo for next year in the North Gallery of the Study Center which is where you will have set up your posters after you have finished presenting to the Expo Judges.

These rubrics will help you plan your presentation:

Judging Criteria that will be used during the final judging.
Judges' rubric for the Expo judging. You will receive immediate feedback from your presentation.

Lunch will be available at the Otowi Cafeteria across from the Study Center. You will be given a lunch ticket in your registration packet.

Tours groups are formed in the Study Center after you have set up your poster in the North Gallery of the Study Center. Review the guidelines at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/announcement.shtml

Important phone numbers to note:

Best Western Hilltop House Hotel (505-662-2441), the Ashley Hotel (505-662-7211), and the Hampton Inn in White Rock (505-672-3838)
Consult: 505-321-9925 or 505-220-5050

Don't forget your tooth brush. We are looking forward to seeing you!

Monday Morning Message, April 9, 2007

Happy Monday!

We have many tips to give you about the upcoming Expo/Awards' Day.

Best Web Page of Final Report

There is an award for the best web page of a final report. There will be a financial award and a web hosting attached to this award. We have one team that has entered this contest. You have one week to get this into Consult.

Laptops on Lab Property

If you are planning to bring a laptop computer with you to present your project to the Finalist or Expo Judges, please follow the directions located here:

http://challenge.nm.org/expo/laptops.shtml

Private cameras will not be allowed in the Expo presentation area so leave them in your vehicles on Monday, but bring them to the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday.

Length of Presentations

At both the Expo and the Finalists presentations, your team has up to 20 minutes to share your project. Then there will be time for questions from the judges. Please keep this time limit in mind as you plan your presentation.

Expo/Awards' Day Information

All you wanted to know and didn't remember to ask is available at:

http://challenge.nm.org/expo

Locations, directions, tour information, info on display boards, and housing information is available there. The housing lists should be posted this afternoon.

The Expo schedule is posted at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/expo/exposchedule.shtml

Supercomputing Link

Lighting Up the Dark Universe

Evidence has accumulated to suggest that the matter in planets, stars, and interstellar gas-ordinary matter made of neutrons, protons, and electrons-is but a small fraction of the matter in the universe. Read more at: http://www.lanl.gov/science/1663/universe.php

Monday Morning Message, April 2, 2007

Happy April

Final Reports

Your final report is due in two more days. Congratulations to Team 85 from Rio Rancho for being the first team to get their report in! We hope to be inundated with reports for the next two days! They MUST be in by noon as they go judges at 12:01.

Registration for the Expo/Awards Day

We are hoping to have a large crowd at the Expo/Awards Day and we have to reserve rooms and order food, so we need to have correct numbers, so please register by Wednesday: http://www.challenge.nm.org/expo/registration.shtml

Lodging

Lodging will be available in Los Alamos Sunday evening for Expo registrants from more than 100 miles from Los Alamos and on Monday evening for students more than 60 miles from Los Alamos.

The Supercomputing Challenge will pay for room (one or two nights at hotel and breakfast included); any other lodging charges will be your responsibility. Note that you may share a room with people from other teams (students will be placed four to a room and teachers two to a room). Participants will be housed at the Best Western Hilltop House Hotel (505-662-2441) and the Ashley Hotel and Suites (505-662-7211).

Expo, Monday, April 23rd

The Expo will take place in the Study Center above the Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library at the Laboratory's TA-3 site (see the detailed map)

On Monday, April 23rd, each team will be assigned a half-hour time slot between 8:30 and 11:30 to present their project to a set of judges. In addition to the poster display, a (laptop) computer can be used during the presentation. After the teams present their projects, they should get ready to go on tours of the Laboratory (quickly return valuable items and items not allowed on the tours to their vehicles). After lunch the tours will continue and will visit several different Laboratory sites to learn about the ongoing research at Los Alamos.

Tours at Los Alamos

Everyone must bring a picture ID because you will have to present it to take the tours. A driver's license or student picture ID is adequate. If you do not have a driver's license, you can have a picture ID made at the Department of Motor Vehicles. If we have your picture from Glorieta, that will do, but bring a picture ID just in case.

There can be NO last-minute substitutions; only those students and teachers whose names have been sent in may attend the Laboratory tours that go inside the security area.

Only US citizens will be allowed on the tours inside the security area, but foreign nationals may participate in the parts of the tours that are outside of the security area.

Teams wanting to go on the tours together MUST go through the registration line together. Tours will take place from 10:00 to 5:00 on Monday.

The following articles are PROHIBITED inside the security area:

Firearms, other dangerous or deadly weapons, explosives, incendiary & explosive devices. (This include pocket knives with blades longer that 2.5 inches.) So leave your big knives, leather-mans, and such at home or in the car/bus.
Privately owned recording equipment (audio, video, optical, or data). So leave your cameras, mp3 players, flash drives, etc in the car/bus.
Privately owned electronic equipment with a data exchange part capable of being connected to automated information systems equipment.
Privately owned cellular telephones. So leave your cell phones in the car/bus.
Privately owned radio frequency transmitting equipment.
Privately owned computers and associated media.
Controlled substances including illegal drugs and associated paraphernalia (less prescription medicine).
Other items prohibited by law.

Bradbury Museum and Swimming

Don't forget to attend the Supercomputing Challenge reception at the Bradbury Science Museum, Monday from 5 - 7PM. Bring your swimming suit if you would like to go swimming at the Larry R. Walkup Aquatic Center in Los Alamos. It is located at 2760 Canyon Road, phone number 662-8170, and open Sunday from 1pm - 5pm and Monday from 6am - 8pm.

Awards Ceremony

The Awards Ceremony will be held 9:00 to 11:00 on Tuesday, April 24th at the Church of Christ auditorium. (see the detailed map) A lunch will follow.

In addition to the winning team and individual scholarship awards, all teams who submit a team project will receive a certificate of the 17th Annual Supercomputing Challenge.

Finalists will receive special certificates and awards. Other awards will be given, including prizes and special recognition for winners in the Poster Competitions.

Science Link

Foiling the Flu Bug

Cold, flu, or something worse? Los Alamos researchers are working on a home-use kit that would give the answer QUICKLY. Learn more at http://www.lanl.gov/science/1663/flu.php

Monday Morning Message, March 26, 2007

Happy Spring!

More Winners from Challenge Community

We believe all of you who turn in a final report are truly winners for sticking with a school year long task, but here are some different winners.

Results for Los Alamos High School Supercomputing teams who qualified for the regional science fair:

Stoyana Alexandrova, Iliana Alexandrova
E.coli in Hostile Environments
Senior Microbiology
1st place in the team category

Jonathan Robey, Dov Schlacter
A Lot of Hot Air: Modeling Compressible Fluid Dynamics
Senior Computer Science
3rd place in the team category

A winner from Socorro:
Omar Soliman
2nd place
Southwestern Mew Mexico Science and Engineering Fair

Congratulations from Consult to all of you!

Your Expo/Awards Day Calendar and Checklist

Write final report, due April 4th, NO LATER THAN NOON. http://www.challenge.nm.org/finalreports
Check with your language arts teacher for help on report and maybe some extra credit.
Register for the Expo and Awards Ceremony, due April 4th.
Pack your picture ID to go on LANL Tours.
Think of clothes for presentation.
Create display board for presentation.
Prepare presentation.
Dream up design for Challenge logo for next year, optional.
Decide if your team is doing a web page for a final report, due Monday, April 16, 2007, 8:00 am
Check out the Bradbury Museum on Monday. April 23rd from 5 - 7, PM. Dinner is on your own, so do bring some money for that and go to the museum before or afterwards.

Judging Rubric and Expo/Awards Day Info

Our volunteer judges use two rubrics to judge your projects. Go to http://challenge.nm.org/expo and scroll down to Judging Information and check out the final judging and expo rubrics there. Make sure you are including this criterion in your final report and presentation:

Problem Statement (15%)
Mathematical/Algorithmic Model (25%)
Computational and/or Agent-Based Model (25%)
Results & Conclusions (15%)
Code (Weight 10%)
Display (Weight 10%)

If you are unclear about any of these criteria, please write to consult at challenge.nm.org for clarification.

Other good information on this page:

Link to Expo registration
General Information
Directions/Housing/Parking
Schedules of Events Awards Ceremony
Publicity

Please keep returning to this spot as we will be adding information as details become clearer.

Reminder

April 4th is only ten days away! You have ten days to finish your report and to register for our celebration.

Science Link

Los Alamos is home to the Bradbury Museum. The Bradbury Science Museum displays exhibits about the history of Los Alamos National Laboratory and its research. Many of the exhibits are interactive and feature videos, computers, and science demonstrations. Visit the website at http://www.lanl.gov/museum. Plan to visit on Monday, April 23rd from 5-7.

Tuesday Morning Message, March 20, 2007

Happy Tuesday!

Your Challenge Teams To Do List!

Work on your final report, due Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at NOON. Email it as an attachment to finalreport07 at challenge.nm.org. See http://www.challenge.nm.org/finalreports for details about format, content, and links to past final reports.
Make the plans to come with your team to Expo Awards. Registration deadline is Wednesday, April 4, 2007. Please try to be as accurate as possible as reserved but unused rooms are charged to the Challenge. The Expo is April 23rd and the Awards Ceremony is April 24th in Los Alamos.
Decide if your team is going to submit a web page (HTML) version of your final report. Those are due Monday, April 16, 2007, 8:00 am. The HTML version of a final report is optional and in addition to a written final report. An award will be given for the best Final Report in HTML.
Work on presentation and display board. Every team attending the Expo is required to give a presentation to a panel of judges on Monday, April 23rd. The talk should not exceed 30 minutes and will explain your work and your project to the judges. A display board summarizing your work is mandatory as well. Using a computer during your presentation is optional. The winning display board will win $100 and that design will be on the cover of this years' final reports books. Do not wait to do this on the bus!
Decide if your team is going to create a graphics poster. Your team could win $200! This image will be used for next year's t-shirts. web page, stationary, etc.

What to bring to Los Alamos

Bring clothes for your presentation. Plan to present your final report in appropriate clothes, no jeans, no flip flops, no gum, etc.
Bring your display board. Optional: Bring your graphics poster.
Bring a picture ID so that you can go on the lab's tour.

Sandia Tour Report

About 60 students and teachers from 11 schools participated in a tour of Sandia National Laboratories on Monday March 19th. A Challenge project work session was held on Sunday afternoon/evening at the Hotel. See the group picture and the tour schedule at http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/sandiatour .

Summer Teacher Institute

Teachers: please save the dates July 8-20, 2007 to join us for the Summer Teacher Institute in Albuquerque. If you haven't let us know that you are joining us, please do. We are looking forward to some good learning and good times.

Regional Science Fairs

This weekend the central region of the state celebrated its science fair. Three Challenge students were successful participants: Erica DeBenedictus, William Laub, and Sam Boling. Congratulations! We would like to include in next week's MMM the names of other winners from the Challenge in the other Regional Fairs. Please send the names to consult at challenge.nm.org with a quick note saying which teams the winners are from and which regional fair you are reporting. We'd be interested in top and special prizes.

Monday Morning Message, March 12, 2007

Happy Daylight Savings Time!

Enjoy the light whenever you can!

Deadlines

Get out your Palms, your Blackberry, your hard copy calendars, or your online calendar and write down these dates:

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at NOON. Deadline to submit final report.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 Registration deadline for Expo and Awards Ceremony in Los Alamos.

Registration will soon be open. Please come join us to celebrate your team's success of completing the Challenge.

Monday, April 16, 2007, 8:00 am Submissions for the Best HTML version of a final report due.

There is an award for the best web page of a final report. Decide if your team is up for this task and then submit it to consult at challenge.nm.org . Expert web designers will be judging this category.

Final Reports

See the Final Report Guidelines for specific information.

Refer to How To Efficiently Write a Technical Report (Word file) or the PDF file.

See last year's final reports.

Display Board

Every team attending the Expo will be required to give a presentation not to exceed one half-hour on their work to a panel of judges on Monday, April 23rd. A display board (details at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/displayboard.shtml) summarizing your work is mandatory as well; using a computer during your presentation is optional.

Sandia Tour

To those you have previously registered: You must bring a picture ID to receive your badge, and hence get on base, see the presentations, take the tour. School IDs with pictures, drivers licenses, passports, any picture ID will do.

Science and Supercomputing Link

Research by a Sandia National Laboratories engineer and a University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center neurologist shows that brain injury may occur within one millisecond after a human head is thrust into a windshield as a result of a car accident. Find out more at http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2006/brain.html

Friday Morning Message, March 2, 2007

Happy Friday,

You never know on what day you might receive one of our updates!

Capshaw Mid

Dateline: Santa Fe, February 28th: Our Challenge Capshaw teachers and student teams hosted a school-wide event for parents. The purpose was to drum up interest for the Challenge and the GUTS (Growing Up Thinking Scientifically, currently a Santa Fe program.) Parents rotated through two different groups of activities including Triazzles, Palm simulations, and StarLogo programming. Parents participated in two off-line simulations which were then modeled with StarLogo. Students helped their parents log into the computers and bring up StarLogo and write a small but rewarding program called DANCE. Everyone was successful and able to modify the program to change the "dance steps". A fine time was had by all.

Thank you, Capshaw Teachers: Peter, Sue, Theresa and Makoena. You are the face of the Challenge.

2007 Scholarships

We are pleased to announce that we have 30 applicants for this year's scholarships. The competition is going to be tough and we wish all you seniors the best of luck. The scholarship committee will review the materials we have received and will decide the next steps.

Applicants, if you haven't already, please mail us a copy of your high school transcript and email us the name of the school you plan to attend in the fall of 2008.

Sandia Tour

We have experienced an overwhelming response for the Sandia Tour this year. Thanks to efforts of Tom Laub we will be able to accommodate all those who have already registered.

If you are attending the Tour and your team would like some Challenge mentoring on Sunday, please write to Consult and we will set up an appointment for you at the Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Circle. Teams in the past have found this opportunity a great way to make progress on their projects.

Final Reports

Friends, your next deadline for the Challenge is Wednesday, April 4, 2007 at NOON. This is the deadline to submit your team's final report. We will be reminding you about this date and time weekly. We must receive by then so that our judges can begin the judging process.

More information can be found at http://www.challenge.nm.org/finalreports

Your team MUST submit a final report to join us in the festivities at Expo/Awards Day, April 23rd and 24th.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 is also the registration deadline for Expo and Awards Ceremony in Los Alamos. Details will follow.

Science/Supercomputing Link

Rings Around the Earth: A Clue to Climate Change?

While most of us know about rings around Saturn and Jupiter, some scientists believe there once were rings of rock debris around our own planet. Two scientists - Peter J. Fawcett, of the University of New Mexico, and Mark B.E. Boslough, of the U.S. Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories - have suggested that a geologically "recent" collision (about 35 million years ago) may have caused such a temporary debris ring.

For more, at Sandia National Labs, go http://www.sandia.gov/news-center/news-releases/2002/earth-sci-fossil-fuel/ringworld.html

Consult

A reminder: It is best to write to consult at challenge.nm.org with any question or comment, and not separately to any of us, as you never know when one of us might be in Acapulco!

Monday Morning Message, February 26, 2007

February Evaluations

Congratulations on completing an important milestone in the Challenge year. Seventy-six teams presented, that is great. We thank the volunteer judges who are the backbone of our program. Do heed their suggestions. Those judges will be your advocate at the Expo/Awards Day, April 23rd and 24th.

Legislature

Keep those cards and letters coming to your legislators. Phone calls are good also. We are hoping that after this season, the Challenge funding will be re-occurring. Please send Consult a copy of any emails. Thanks to Talaya White from Team 37 for joining the Challenge Board and consult at the legislative meeting.

Sandia Tour

We are nearing the limit of participants for the Sandia Tour, so if you are interested in joining us, please make sure that you have registered by writing sandiatour07 at challenge.nm.org. Thanks to the efforts of mentor and judge, Sandian Tom Laub, the exciting agenda is completed. Highlights are talks about Climate Modeling, Asteroid Impact Simulations, Modeling Traumatic Brain Injury and Tours of Hermes (High Energy Radiation Megavolt Electron Source) and Saturn, an x-ray source.

Seniors! Scholarships!

To apply for a Challenge scholarship; please go to page http://challenge.nm.org/expo/scholarships.shtml

Notice all the different scholarships available.

Near the bottom it says

Any senior student wishing to be considered for a scholarship award MUST submit the following by February 28th, 2007 (THAT IS THIS WEDNESDAY):

A letter describing his/her contribution to the team project with an emphasis on the specific areas of leadership.

The sponsoring teacher MUST endorse the team member's letter and outline the qualities and examples from the teacher's perspective.

The Project Advisor and/or other team members may also provide supporting statements of this individual's role and contribution to the team effort.

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all documentation, including supportive statements, are sent to: scholarship07 at challenge.nm.org

There really isn't an online application at this time. After you do this, you may get a phone call or email from the judges.

Science/Supercomputing Link

Pulsed Power Technology at Sandia National Laboratories

Time-exposure photograph of electrical flashover arcs produced over the surface of the water in the accelerator tank as a byproduct of Z operation. These flashovers are much like strokes of lightnings.

Pulsed Power Technology (PPT) is used to generate and apply energetic beams and high-power energy pulses. It is distinguished by the development of repetitive pulsed power technologies, x-ray and energetic beam sources, and electromagnetic and radiation hydrodynamic codes for a wide variety of applications.

For more information: http://www.sandia.gov/capabilities/pulsed-power/ppt.html

Thursday Morning Message, February 23, 2007

Legislation

Thank you to all of you who wrote and/or called your representatives about House Bills 1084 and 1115 and supported your Supercomputing Challenge. We shared a lot of information with the committee on Wednesday evening. The two bills received a "do pass" and have moved on to the Finance Committee. We will keep you posted about the results of the next hearing. And, of course, the campaign goes on: there is still time to get in touch with your legislators. Thank you so much for the support you have given the Challenge so far.

Evaluations

More than 25 teams made presentations on Saturday at UNM. This Saturday we will conclude the February evaluations at New Mexico Tech. Remember to keep checking the schedule at http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations/schedule.shtml#NMT. Email consult right away if your team has an emergency and needs to adjust its plans.

Sandia Tour

There is still time to sign up for the Sandia Tour Day. In addition to tours and lunch, there will be presentations from scientists and engineers, some of whom are former Challengers. Details are at http://challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/sandiatour. Please write to sandiatour07 at challenge.nm.org.

Scholarships

SENIORS--Scholarship information is available on the website at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/scholarships.shtml. The application can be completed online and we may ask for transcripts and other information later. Please send applications and supporting letters to scholarship07 at challenge.nm.org.

Science Link

Urban road race to test limits of robotic cars SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) -- In what sounds like a science fair project on steroids, engineers at Stanford University plan to have an unmanned robot car ready to navigate urban traffic in less than a year. Read about it at http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/02/20/robot.car.race.reut/index.html

Enjoy the rest of your week and keep those calls, emails, and letters coming to your representatives. We are looking forward to celebrating our success at Awards Day!

Tuesday Morning Message, February 20, 2007

Dear Challenge Community - Teams, Teachers, Parents, Administrators, Judges, Mentors, Sponsors:

Now is the time to write, telephone, email or visit your representatives about House Bill 1084 and House Bill 1115. Tomorrow the House Education Committee will discuss House Bill 1084 at 1:30 in the afternoon. These two bills offer the legislative, financial support that is essential to the Supercomputing Challenge being able to continue after Award's Day.

A phone call is effective and easy. Chances are that your representative will not answer the phone and so you leave your message with the person who is answering and taking messages. Have three sentences ready about why you think the Challenge should receive funding. You can start by saying, "My name is .. and I'm calling to ask Representative XXXX to support House Bill 1084. House Bill 1084 supports the Supercomputing Challenge. I am a student/parent/teacher/administrator and I live in xyz and go to abc school. The Challenge is important because your-own-words-here."

Some examples for your own words might include how the Challenge has helped you understand science or prepare you for high school or college. You might say that your school has trouble finding the money to get the buses to take you to Challenge Kickoff or Sandia Tour Day or Los Alamos Awards Day. You might mention the scholarship opportunities. You know what to say!

So who is your Representative? You can go to this link to find out if you aren't sure who represents your neighborhood: Find your legislator: http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legislatorsearch.asp You put in your zip code to locate your Legislators.

Here are the members of the House Education Committee. http://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/committeedetail.asp?CommCode=HEC If you can make two phone calls (or one phone call and one email!), please write to one these representatives who will be making the first decision about whether or not to support the Challenge. VERY important!! It may be that your representative is on the House Education Committee - so that would be just one important phone call.

THANK YOU for making time today to do this important work. The Challenge is depending on you to make your voice heard so that the Challenge will continue to provide science, mathematics, engineering, and technology opportunities to middle and high school students around the state.

Tuesday Morning Message, February 13, 2007

February Evaluations

Shiprock High hosted February Evaluations last Friday and next Saturday, teams will be meeting at the University of New Mexico. Please continue to check the schedules at http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations for last minute changes or updates. Remember, too, to write to Consult if you have questions or last minute changes.

Legislative Update

The Speaker of the House, Ben Lujan, has introduced HB 1084 for $160K for Supercomputing Challenge. It has been assigned to House Education and House Appropriations committees, which would be the normal assignments.

Scholarship Update

Seniors, there is still time to gather all your materials and let us know you are interested in one of our scholarships. Details can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/scholarships.shtml Deadline is February 28th. Process may change after we see how many seniors are interested.

Sandia Tour, March 19th

Please check out the details for the Sandia Tour at http://challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/sandiatour The 50 slots for this tour are filling fast. Email any questions or the registration information to sandiatour07@challenge.nm.org

Supercomputing Link

Wow, what will computers be like and how powerful with they be in just a few years? http://www.tgdaily.com/2007/02/11/intel_80_core

And here is our Valentine's link: Ancient Lovers Are Unearthed in Italy http://p234.news.mud.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_sc/italy_prehistoric_love_7

We hope all of you will be our Valentines!

Monday Morning Message, February 5, 2007

Happy February!

February Evaluations

Most southern and northern Challenge teams made their presentations before judges this past Saturday. Please make sure that you understand the judges' suggestions. They can become an advocate for your team, especially if you heed their suggestions. Please let us know if their feedback was helpful.

Lessons learned from the evaluations held at Santa Fe Community College: 1) if you are bringing a Macintosh laptop, bring a dongel with you that will allow the Mac to be connected to a projection system, 2) if you bring your presentation on a jump drive, make sure all the files and images are on the jump drive, 3) if you just upgraded to MS Office 2007, save your PowerPoint presentation so that 2003 can read it (bring a .ppt not just a .pptx), and 4) if you sit in on another team's presentation please be a quite observer. You can learn from seeing others present so that is not discouraged.

Best of luck to the Farmington area, Eastern and central Challenge teams as they go to their evaluations next week. Please continue to check http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations for schedule changes and last minute news.

Legislative Update

News from Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House and his administrative chief of staff, Regis Pecos, is that the Challenge bill will be given a number this week. Get those phone dialing and letter writing fingers ready to "swamp" the legislature with supportive calls and letters to your representatives and senators.

Scholarship Update

Seniors, please gather all your materials to be eligible for a scholarship. Details can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/scholarships.shtml

Deadline is February 28th.

Process may change after we see how many seniors are interested. Stay tuned!

Sandia Tour, March 19th

Please check out the details for the Sandia Tour at http://challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/sandiatour

We are hoping that we can easily fill up the 50 slots available for this engaging tour.

Email questions and registration information to sandiatour07@challenge.nm.org

Global Warming Conference - it's all about models!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/03/science/earth/03climate.html

At this week's environmental conference in Paris, scientists reported for the first time that "global warming is "unequivocal" and that human activity is the main driver.." This article from the New York Times outlines the discussion. On the PBS News Hour, a reporter asked an expert on climate change how the scientists could be so sure of their predictions. He replied that it is because the models of climate change have been developed and refined in the last two decades and are now sufficiently robust and sophisticated that their predictions are reliable. This link to the BBC News includes a terrific set of graphics showing how the models work. Click on the "in graphics" under Improvements in the Science http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6320515.stm. Further down, there is an explanation about the massive increases in computer power to increase regional details.

Supercomputing News

A 3D computer simulation of 10,000 neurons firing in the human brain produces a terabyte of data--a fraction of what it would take to map the brain's billions of neurons in algorithms. Visit Blueprinting the Human Brain at http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6071061.html for more information.

Monday Morning Message, January 29, 2007

Dear Challenge Community!

February Project Evaluations

Your project evaluations are coming up quickly. Please check page http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations/schedule.shtml for updates.

The judges will be giving you immediate feedback on your research, your mathematical model or StarLogo, your C++, Java or StarLogo code, and your presentation to include your teaming, visuals, and speaking. These four areas give you an outline for your presentation!

The form they are going to use is located at http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations/judging_form.html

You will receive their written feedback as you leave your presentation.

We think we have made 100 changes and there are only 80 teams! Hope you are scheduled now for an appropriate time.

Save Sandia Tour Date

Once again, Tom Laub is organizing a Sandia Tour on Monday, March 19, 2007

Sandia National Labs will host a tour day for participants in the Supercomputing Challenge on Monday March 19th, 2007. Students are eligible to come to the tour day if their team has submitted an interim report and participated in the regional judging. Participants MUST be US citizens.

Space is limited to 50 Challenge participants and registration will be on a first come first served basis. There is financial support available for lodging for those schools traveling long distances (so they can spend the night on Sunday). We will meet off-base and be bused on base with Sandia Lab transportation. We will meet at 8:30 AM (We will let you know of the location in a later email). The agenda is still in flux so we are not yet sure what time we will be finished. We are shooting for about 3:00 PM. Lunch will be provided.

Please coordinate your participation through your sponsoring teacher so there is one registration form per school.

The following information is needed for every participant:
Name
Date of Birth
Team Number
School Name
School Address

A Social Security Number is necessary to get visitor badges for access to Sandia National Labs Technical Areas; however, the Challenge will provide Sandia with your Social Security Number. If you did not provide your Social Security Number to the Challenge during registration, you will need to make arrangements to get that information to us. Also Consult will provide digital pictures of all participants as taken at the kick-off event in October. Having a picture expedites the processing of badges. Those without digital pictures on file will need to supply pictures (JPEG) or have them taken at the Sandia badge office.

It is ESSENTIAL that all participants wishing to go on the tour bring a photo ID to be admitted to Kirtland Air Force base and be badged by Sandia National Labs.

Please only make a reservation if you will be able to attend as space is limited. Please make your reservation by March 1, 2007 to allow enough time for processing information at Sandia's badge office. Email the registration information to sandiatour07@challenge.nm.org

Legislative Update

Our Board of Directors are working diligently with Speaker of the House, Ben Lujan and his Chief of Staff, Regis Pecos. Soon, we will have a bill number and will ask each and every one of you to have your parents and teachers to call your legislators in support of the bill.

Scholarships

We will be announcing scholarships procedures for seniors next week. The deadline for applications is February 28th. Current information is located at http://challenge.nm.org/expo/scholarships.shtml

Please wait for update next week before completing any of the paperwork.

Supercomputing Link

Supercomputer To Advance Studies Of Abrupt Climate Change

Science Daily - Climate researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have been given unprecedented access to one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to better understand the causes and consequences of abrupt climate change.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070111184302.htm

Monday Morning Message, January 22, 2007

Good Day,

Please do respond to the online mentor who gave you email feedback on your Interim reports. This is only polite. They can become your allies!

February Project Evaluations

Please continue to check the schedule for your February Evaluation at http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations to see any changes.

The judges at the February evaluations can also become your allies as you enter the final evaluations. They remember you and your work and often watch to see if you take their suggestions.

Challenge Forum

Shane Wilson, from Artesia, reminds us that there is a forum available for your teams to utilize. It can be found at http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/forum

Forums are just another name for discussion boards or message boards. They enable users to interact with each other by exchanging tips and discussing hot topics.

Forums save information posted on a particular topic for other people to see at any time, this creates a discussion environment. Everything that gets posted gets read again and again.

To use the Challenge Forum, you need register a user name if you haven't already. Click on Register on the first row of options.

Suggested uses are a place to "talk" to your mentor, a place to share your solutions, ask questions.

If your question is urgent, please email consult@challenge.nm.org, until the forum gets more usage.

Legislative Packet

Please get your parents, teachers, and community to write to your legislators urging them to support the Challenge. Members of the Challenge Board of Directors are meeting with legislators and we will update you next week.

First Annual Rocky Mountain Space Settlement Design Competition

February 9 - 11, 2007
Los Alamos, New Mexico
High School Students, Only
Design a Space Colony or Settlement -
Somewhere in the Universe,
Somewhere in the Future!

Visit http://www.lanl.gov/csse/rmssdc

The winning team will then participate in the International Space Settlement Design Competition to be held at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in July 2007.

Get those cards and letters to your legislators. Get those presentations down pat. Get some time to play in the snow, too!

Tuesday Afternoon Message, January 16, 2007

Good Day

Two big items in this message: Legislative Campaign and here come the Project Evaluations!

Legislative Packet

You have received an email about support for the Challenge and the state legislature. Please have your parents, teachers and mentors write, call or visit with the appropriate people and the governor, telling them the Challenge benefits. We'll stay in touch with you about action we need you to take to assure that the Challenge will be funded for next year.

There will be weekly updates on this needed support.

Project Evaluations

On February 3rd, we are expecting the teams near Eastern, Santa Fe and Las Cruces to go to those colleges and give a 20 minute presentation to three or four judges. The judges will have ten minutes for questions. After your presentation, you will receive written feedback from the judges.

If you can't make this scheduled time, please let Consult know ASAP! Please keep checking at http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations as the schedules could change.

Tips for Presentations

Remember first impressions are important. Dress for a presentation. Place your gum in the wastebasket when you are ready to present. Think about what your hands are doing. Look really interested when your teammates are talking. Smile. Give eye contact.

Tips for PowerPoint Presentations

See the Presentation topic under http://challenge.nm.org/resources for the following information: Scoring Power Points Effective Presentations

Science Link

The Biotechnology Institute's ( http://www.biotechinstitute.org/) "mission is to engage, excite, and educate the public, particularly young people, about the promise and challenges of biotechnology." They publish Your World: Biotechnology & You, a free bi-annual magazine for grades 7 to 12. Your World explores a single topic in-depth, includes tips an online teacher's guide, and student activities.

Practice those presentations and write those legislators!

Tuesday Morning Message, January 9, 2007

Interim Feedback

Your team should have heard via email from a judge who has given you some feedback on your Interim Report. Please respond to these knowledgeable volunteers by thanking them and responding to their questions and comments. If your team has not received some feedback, please write to consult@challenge.nm.org

January Peer Review

Please let us know how any peer reviews are going. It is important to practice telling people about your project before your evaluation time in February.

February Project Evaluations

Be planning ahead for the Project Evaluations. If your team has a conflict with the scheduled time or location, please let consult know. Check the http://www.challenge.nm.org/evaluations web page for the schedule.

Alumnae Report about SC06,

the international conference of high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis held in Tampa, Florida and attended by more than 7,100 people by Stephanie McAllister, New Mexico Tech:

This year's supercomputing conference was a great experience for me. There are always special things about going to a conference like this, especially all the cool free giveaways. RedHat was giving away 10 red fedoras every day, there were lots of Happy Fun Balls, and other unique toys. One of these toys was a plastic rod covered with an inorganic substance which would light up green when a particle of light hits it. These light detecting rods are used in a massive underground experiment with light.

Besides material things, going around and talking to people I found out a lot about what people and companies do. The conversations also lead to what the new innovations are. One such innovation is 100Gb optical cards. One company has manufactured 100Gb networking cards that actually perform at 100Gb. There are a few things left to do on the cards, but it's close enough to be the next thing in supercomputing interconnects.

Also in the news, the release of the Top500 list. The 100 tera-flop barrier has been broken by a few machines now. One machine has also been stable and predictable on the Linpack benchmark, the first one in history. For more specific information on the Top500, go to http://top500.org.

At any big conference, networking opportunities arise. There are many companies looking for employees and interns, as I ran into at SC06. One big key to making a conference like this work for you is to go talk to people. This gets your face and name out into the business world and can help you get a job in the future.

Overall, this conference was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to people just about non-stop for a week. It was an expensive trip to Tampa, Florida, and it was a great experience. If you have the chance to go, I would encourage you to, but be careful if you go while still in school!

Legislative Support

Later this week, we will be sending you a note with a template for a letter for your teachers and parents to send to your local state representatives and senators. They need to hear from voters about the Supercomputing Challenge. More to come on this!

Supercomputing Link

Astron and IBM are collaborating on designing a microprocessor that will help antennas collect weak radio signals from deep space. Some of the signals could be 13 billion years old and provide clues to the source of dark matter and the origin of the universe. For more info see: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6141147.html

Tuesday Afternoon Message, January 2, 2007

Happy New Year!

Interim Reports

Congratulations to the 66 teams that have submitted their Interim Reports!

February Project Evaluations

Those teams that have submitted Interims have been scheduled for the February Project Evaluations. Please check the schedules at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/evaluations and let Consult know of any problems. Remember to check that site weekly, especially the week of your evaluation, for updates.

January Peer Reviews

This month you should practice for the February Project Evaluations by having a Peer Review. See http://www.challenge.nm.org/peer_review.html for more details.

Science News

Homeland Security High School garners praise from DOD A DOD official recently praised a Sandia-sponsored homeland security program as the nation's best homeland security program for high school students. Read more at: http://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/061208.html#three

Forty years of nuclear safeguards: "keeping the world a safer place." Read more at: http://www.lamonitor.com/articles/2006/12/14/headline_news/news03.txt

Sandia Laboratories' Redstorm computer #2 in the world. Read more at: http://www.sandia.gov/LabNews/061124.html#one

Tuesday Afternoon Message, December 19, 2006

Hope you are enjoying your break from school.

63 Interim Reports have been submitted and we are still hoping for a few more. Now we are updating the February Project Evaluation schedule. Check the Project Evaluation schedule weekly in January to see the changes and let us know if there are any conflicts.

The satellite tracking group from the International, Space & Response (ISR) Division of Los Alamos National Laboratory again will be tracking Santa Claus' whereabouts on Christmas Eve. Check out http://santa.lanl.gov .

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us at Consult.

Monday Morning Message, December 11, 2006

Happy Holidays!

We already have 12 Interim Reports online! Hope to see that amount times eight by FRIDAY. A judge or mentor will give you written feedback via email. It is polite to acknowledge their note. Next week we will start scheduling the February Project Evaluations, so let us know if you have any constraints.

Here is a rather good CNN article on supercomputing: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/12/05/supercomputers/index.html

And if you are in the Santa Fe or Albuquerque area:
A free talk on Avian Influenza

Avian Influenza: How LANL is helping respond to a potential pandemic.

Although 'bird flu' has been the subject of recent media attention, the public can often be left with more questions than answers. How serious is the problem? How can I protect myself and my family? What is the government doing to address this situation?

To supply information for interpreting this potential threat, several LANL scientists will share their insights and understanding of influenza. Topic areas will include: a historical perspective of infectious disease, the current global situation, the biology of the influenza virus itself, and how government policy could influence the spread of the flu should it come to pass.

The Fellows of Los Alamos National Laboratory are pleased to announce that the Frontiers in Science public lecture series will continue this month with a panel discussion featuring Jeanne Fair (EES-2), Norman Johnson, (T-10), and Ruy Ribeiro, (T-10), with Gary Resnick, (B-DO), as moderator. The title of the talk is: "Avian Influenza: How LANL is helping respond to a potential pandemic."

This talk will be presented in Albuquerque, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and Taos. The abstract and schedule are below. Further information about the Frontiers in Science lectures can be obtained from Basil Swanson (basil@ lanl.gov, 7-5814), James Theiler (jtheiler @lanl.gov, 5-5682), or from the Fellows Web site:
http://www.lanl.gov/science/fellows/lectures.shtml
The Frontiers in Science public lectures are presented by Laboratory scientists and are intended to inform Northern New Mexico communities about the broad range of scientific and engineering research performed at the Laboratory. Please come and bring your friends and family. There is no admission charge.

Please join us for an interesting evening.
Albuquerque: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
2401 12th Street NW
Albuquerque, NM

Santa Fe: Friday, December 15, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
Santa Fe Community College
6401 Richards Avenue

See you next year! Best of luck with your Interims!

Monday Morning Message, December 4, 2006

Happy Holidays to all!

In the rubrics for judging in April, there are several categories:

Problem Statement

Mathematical/Algorithmic Model

Computational and/or Agent-Based Model

Results & Conclusions

Code

These are the areas you should be addressing in your interim report. If you need assistance in one of these areas, state that area in your report.

We are asking a Challenge mentor and/or judge to write to your entire team online about your Interim. You should receive an email by January 2nd. It is polite to acknowledge the note. Reply and thank them for their time. Do ask any questions of them. Remember, it is wise to take their advice. They will become your advocate as they know your work and will be looking at your final report to see your progress (and how you incorporated their advice!)

Once again, the place to be for information on your interim report is http://challenge.nm.org/interims

What will you be doing next summer?

"Each summer approximately 75 high school students gather for six of the most stimulating weeks of their young lives. Selected from the United States and other nations, these students participate in a rigorous academic program which emphasizes advanced theory and research in mathematics, the sciences, and engineering. This is the Research Science Institute (RSI)." Learn about RSI at: http://www.cee.org/rsi

Bring in the "Bee Team", interesting scientific research: http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/
fuseaction/nb.story/story_id/9475/nb_date/2006-11-30

And just in time for holiday giving, soon supercomputers could be made out of Sony Playstation 2's. Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2940422.stm

Make some good new year resolutions! Enjoy your upcoming break.

Monday Morning Message, November 27, 2006

Good Day,

Hope you didn't overdose on turkey! Or tofu? No matter what your eating preferences are, we are thankful that you are part of the Supercomputing Challenge community.

How is your Interim Report coming along? Need any help? Remember that it is due online, Friday, December 15th. Here is the link: http://www.challenge.nm.org/interims
We are proud that we have 88 proposals now posted. We are hoping that we have that many interim reports, too. We already have five interims posted, one from Las Cruces and four from Rio Rancho High!

Please contact consult@challenge.nm.org if there is any way we can help you with the Interim Report, the second Challenge milestone. We will have mentors and judges look at your interim report and give you valuable feedback.

Science Links

Astronauts do all kinds of testing: here is a test of a very long shot. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/11/22/spacestation.golf.ap/index.html

Step by Step, Math Models Unlock Secrets of Cancer Biology http://www.siam.org/news/news.php?id=1017

Monday Morning Message, November 20, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Lots of information here.

Mentors

The Academy for the Classics in Santa Fe are on their way to working with mentors online and in person. Some Artesia, Albuquerque Academy and Los Alamos teams have their mentors placed on their online proposals.

Interim Reports

December will be Challenge Interim month! Interims are due before you go on winter break. Please check out this link for all the information you will need: http://www.challenge.nm.org/interims

February Project Evaluations

We have already been contacted by teams planning for the Project Evaluations. Start making your travel plans and if you have any time or day preferences, send consult an email. Once the Interim Reports are submitted, the schedules will be updated.

Information about this mid course presentation can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations

Technical Writing Tips

Mentor, judge, Challenge parent and Kickoff instructor, Bob Robey shares:

Report on the Los Alamos High School Supercomputing Challenge Kickoff and Movie Night on Fri Nov 10th. The activities were:

Parent meeting to disseminate information on the Supercomputing Challenge schedule and program.

Teams began work on their technical reports using a document on "How To Efficiently Write a Technical Report". This document presents proposal writing techniques to help quickly write a paper with a minimum of wasted effort. Using this, teams got a start on a page map for their final reports. (See this at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/finalreports)

Movie night fun with a viewing of Anti-Trust, the only movie with the Free Software Foundation listed in the credits. A true geek movie and celebration of the programmer.

Other Competitions

Interested in entering your Challenge project in other competitions? If you are in 6th-9th grades, check out http://www.ecybermission.com, the U.S. Army's free, web-based science, math and technology competition which has a registration deadline of December 12, 2006.

Girls Want More Than to Sit at a PC
Financial Times Digital Business (11/08/06) P. 5

Developing countries have been more successful in encouraging girls to pursue careers in information technology than in the U.S. and the U.K. "In emerging markets, where you have a higher percentage living in undeserved areas and where they need jobs, girls see IT as a great opportunity to enter the global marketplace," says Tae Yoo, VP of corporate affairs at Cisco, whose Network Academy Program has nearly double the percentage of girls in India as in the U.S., 30 percent versus 15 percent. Programs have been devised in subjects that are found to interest preteen girls, the age where most lose interest in technology; these include music, fashion, and design. In one project, made possible by e-skills U.K.'s Computer Club for Girls, 11-year-olds designed new school uniforms, developed a business case to present the uniform changes to the administration, and created a Web site to sell the new uniforms to parents. "For girls, the opportunity to see technology as a way to solve problems they can identify with real human problems is very appealing," says Wendy Hawkins, director of Intel's educations programs. The problem has never been aptitude: annual Siemens math, science, and technology competition in the U.S. has just as many girls as boys and girls have won either the team or individual award for six of the past seven years; but getting them to consider IT as a career is a greater challenge. Microsoft's DigiGirlz summer camps aims to do this by showing girls that work in IT is more than sitting in front of a computer, by stressing creativity and teamwork, because as Hawkins says, "It's difficult to picture a career with a living wage that you can imagine a girl doing 10 years from now that is not immersed in IT." To learn about ACM's Committee on Women in Computing, visit http://women.acm.org

Monday Morning Message, November 13, 2006

November is Mentor Month

Have you entered your mentor's name into your proposal? Have you contacted someone to help you with the science involved in your project? Have you contacted someone to help you with mathematical modeling or agent based modeling? Have you contacted someone to help you with your code? Do you need help with research? Please write to Consult if you are still needing help getting your project off the ground.

Interim Reports

You have 33 more days to work on your Interim reports. Interim guidelines and an example can be found at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/interims
Do work with your English teachers for assistance and extra credit!

We have 87 proposals submitted, let's see how close to 87 we can get with the interims!

Model Your World in 3D with Google SketchUp

Google SketchUp (free) is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that enables you to explore the world in 3D. With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - even space ships. And once you've built your models, you can place them in Google Earth, post them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies. http://sketchup.google.com/products.html

Looking forward to finding mentors on each proposal this week!

Monday Morning Message, November 6, 2006

Good Day,

Hope you are enjoying these glorious fall days!

Mentors

Year after year, we hear that a key to success is a good relationship with a mentor. Please add the name of your mentor to your proposal by choosing Submit or Edit from this link: http://challenge.nm.org/proposals

You can look for a mentor in our database at http://challenge.nm.org/mentors/mentors.shtml

Write a polite email asking for assistance. Be sure to include your name, school, and description of your project. Point them to your proposal page. If you do not have any luck there, please contact consult@challenge.nm.org

Some teams have had success in finding a mentor for their topic on the net.

Research

Your team will also be working on project research this month. Although Challenge projects are computational science projects, not research projects, nonetheless research is an important component. We expect three - five citations and at least one to be a print citation in your interim report which is due December 15th.

Look at Citation Maker at http://www.oslis.k12.or.us/citeintro/ctimeout.php for assistance in setting up a bibliography.

Table for Challenge Research and Presentation Hints http://challenge.nm.org/archive/04-05/sti/research/index.shtml

These just in . . .
Young Researchers' Banquet Reports

The second annual Young Researchers Banquet held Saturday, November 4 was a smashing success. Students from all over New Mexico as well as from schools in California and Oneida, Wisconsin attended the banquet and they were an enthusiastic crowd.

The attendees were treated to a buffet dinner and several speakers. From the MC, Russ Fisher-Ives, to the keynote speaker Antoine Predock, there was no shortage of inspiration for students at the banquet. A biology teacher from New Mexico Tech delivered a speech on the importance of science in the world today and, ever so discreetly, included a plug for Tech in the speech. New Mexico senators Domenici, Bingaman, and Pearce were all represented at the banquet, and speeches were delivered on their behalf.

The star of the show, however, was the 2006 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal Winner, Antoine Predock. Predock started out at UNM to get a degree in engineering. However, his technical art class was taught, for some reason, by an architect that inspired him to make a career change. Predock's message was that art and science are two fields that are not mutually exclusive and together, they can be a rewarding adventure.

Although Predock is greatly renowned and incredibly talented at what he does, he is an amiable person. His speech glorified the possibilities that are open to young researchers and the lives they can lead and not so much on his incredible work. He was a captivating speaker and funny to top it all off.

The Young Researchers' Banquet is the pep-rally of science and the homecoming of research. Students are given the opportunity to get excited about science and for their community to be excited for them. It is easily worth the trip for all the speakers and member of the scientific community that are there, ready and waiting to answer questions from students and to offer their aid as mentors throughout the research process. If you couldn't attend this year, make it a point to catch the next one. The Young Researcher's Banquet is one night you won't regret.

Catherine Fessler, Team 84, Rio Rancho High School

Kristin Cordwell, Manzano High School, adds:

Saturday evening, at the New Mexico Young Researchers Banquet, students had a chance to mingle, look over exhibits (including one from the Supercomputing Challenge), and talk to adult scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. The featured speaker was Antoine Predock, a long time New Mexico resident and winner of the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for 2006, who described some of his interesting work. A focus of the event was the 2007 Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which will be held in Albuquerque next May. Students are encouraged to participate (Computer Science is one of the categories).

Consult adds,

"Think of leveraging your Challenge project for ISEF." Check out the website at http://www.sciserv.org/isef

Sharing your work in more than one venue is encouraged and accepted. You must first participate in a regional science fair. Information about those is found at http://infohost.nmt.edu/~science/fair/Regionals.htm

PR for the Challenge

We think it is a good idea to get a story about your team into your school paper! What good PR! Then send us that story and we will publish it on our webpage. We will try to highlight a team regularly!

Interim Reports

You have just over five weeks until your Interim Reports are due. Some of that time is spent on Thanksgiving. Start planning your report. You will need to share your research and your work with your mentor.

Pictures

See some of the pictures that were taken at the Kickoff Conference at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/kickoff/pictures

Monday Morning Message, October 30, 2006

Good Morning,

We so enjoyed meeting you at Glorieta! The kickoff was fun! We would like to hear from you about what worked for you, what didn't work and what we need to work on. Just write to consult@challenge.nm.org with your thoughts!

Registered for this year's Challenge are 320 students and 52 teachers from 44 schools in 19 districts and they make up 105 teams. Only 86 proposals have been submitted at this time so we are asking teams if they are still participating to submit their proposals.

There are still free tickets for the Second Annual Researchers' Banquet, November 4, 2006 at the Mariott Uptown (I-40 and Louisiana Blvd. NE) in Albuquerque. Please write to Consult to reserve your place by Wednesday, the 1st!

On our website, there is a section called resources, at http://challenge.nm.org/resources. There under research you can find the site used in the Challenge Year session, information about mentors, and a technical guide to use for StarLogo and Java resources.

Soon more of our resources from the kickoff, the teamwork session, StarLogo and Java resources will be placed on this page also.

November is Mentor Month! We will be asking you to share the name of your team's mentor with us. Our mentor database is located on the resource page also and can be accessed specifically at http://challenge.nm.org/resources/mentors.shtml. Successful teams report that the use of a mentor is what assists them to finish the year.

If you contact one of our mentors and do not receive a response, please let us know.

To follow up on our theme of epidemiology at the kickoff, we would like to share some more information about Agent Based Models in Medicine.
http://www.swarm.org/wiki/ Agent-Based_Models_in_Biology_and_Medicine#Epidemiology

Everyone has been given an account on a Linux machine at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The account names were printed on the name tags for the Glorieta Kickoff and for students would be the letters "ch", followed by their three digit Challenge Registration Id number, followed by their three initials.

In order to access this machine, know as mode.lanl.k12.nm.us, the ip address of the machine you are on needs to be entered into the firewall database. Go to https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/ipaddress_login.php and provide your Challenge Registration Id number and password and your ipaddress will be recorded for entry into the firewall database.

More information on how to use mode will be coming in future Monday Morning Messages or you can look over these web pages: http://www.challenge.nm.org/ctg/login/ssh.shtml http://www.challenge.nm.org/ctg/login/tutorial.shtml

Monday Morning Message, October 16, 2006

Dear Friends,

Kickoff

Next week we hope to meet you all at the Glorieta Conference Center! First session folks should plan to arrive between 12:30 and 2:00 on Sunday and second session folks should plan to arrive between 10:00 and 11:30 on Monday morning. If you need directions or details, please look through all the links at the kickoff page at http://challenge.nm.org/kickoff

Please remember that you need to bring a sleeping bag or bedding, a pillow and a towel along with your personal toiletries.

HOUSING LIST

Double check the housing list to see if anyone listed there is not coming or if anyone is coming who is not listed: http://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/housing_session1.html (for session 1) and http://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/housing_session2.html (for session 2).

PROPOSALS

Please submit your proposals asap! You will need a hard copy of your proposal when you go to the Meet the Scientists session. We have 95 teams and 30 proposals online. You do the math!
http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals

TEAM NUMBERS

Once we get the last few students to be registered on teams, the team numbers will be reassigned, alphabetically by school, to numbers between 1 and 95 (or so). You will be able to see your "official" team number on the proposal page if you have already submitted a proposal, or when you submit a proposal (this week), the new team number will be used.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

We are proud to present Tim Germann, Los Alamos National Laboratory, as our keynote at our joint session on Monday, the 23rd at 1 PM. Tim is on the Avian Flu team that has modeled the spread of disease. And we quote from Biology News at
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2006/04/04/ avian_flu_modeled_on_supercomputer_explores_vaccine_ and_isolation_options_for_thwarting_a_pandemic.html

(That may be one of the biggest web addresses ever!)

"Using supercomputers to respond to a potential national health emergency, scientists have developed a simulation model that makes stark predictions about the possible future course of an avian influenza pandemic, given today's environment of worldwide connectivity." Read on to see how this all computes.

OUTCOMES

We hope that at the end of the kickoff you will have a good understanding of a computational science project that is measurable and a model. Epidemiology is a current "hot" topic and lends itself beautifully to computational science. We think you will know more about the Challenge Year milestones, Research, Teamwork, and Java or Starlogo, and Fractals. You should come away, too, with some good suggestions about getting started on your project.

FAIR

Don't forget to visit the College and Computer Fair in the Santa Fe room next to the Glorieta cafeteria during lunch on Monday, the 23rd. Get some interesting info along with freebies!

CONTACT INFORMATION

Here are our cell phone numbers in case you need to speak to us in this coming week.

Betsy 505-220-5050
Celia 505-321-9925
David 505-412-2559

Tuesday Morning Message, October 10, 2006

Good Day,

The Challenge Community, 2006 - 07 is about 450 strong, with students, teachers, judges and volunteers!

Some important info if you are attending the Kickoff at Glorieta. You need to bring a sleeping bag or bedding, a pillow and a towel along with your personal toiletries. The rooms each have four bunk beds.

We would love it if you would make sure you have completed an online survey and submitted a proposal. We will be contacting you if you have not done these two important activities.

Registration at the Glorieta Conference Center and with the Challenge Kickoff committee will be the first two steps at Glorieta. At the Challenge registration in room 9 of the Patio/Chapel area, you will get a name tag, a schedule and some important announcements and get your picture taken so that you can attend the tour at Los Alamos at the end of the year.

Let's talk a minute about the end of the year. We currently have approximately 95 teams (but 34 students have not registered on teams yet). We want to have that many teams join us in April at the end of this year's program. You are making a commitment by signing all the paperwork and submitting a proposal and such that you will try your best to make it through the year. Let us know how we can help you with that commitment.

For the first group on Sunday, registration starts at 12:30. We hope that you have already eaten before you come. For the second group, we do not provide lunch on Tuesday. We provide each team with three meals, one dinner, one breakfast and one lunch.

After placing your luggage and bedding in your room, you will attend a welcome and overview in the chapel area. Nick Bennett, member of Consult will introduce you to our sample problem dealing with the spread of disease. We will all become Young Epidemiology Scholars. Matter of fact, there is a website with that name at http://www.collegeboard.com/yes/ There is info there about the topic and the competition. If your team decides to do a proposal on epidemiology, you might be eligible for the competition.

You will then go to six different classes which are created to meet your needs in computational science. There will be classes in teamwork, a Meet the Scientist Session, where your team shares your proposal and gets feedback, a class about the Challenge year, either an introduction to programming or computational science, classes in StarLogo or Java or Mathematica.

In the evenings, you are in for a treat with some time to learn about Fractals and play with them.

Congratulations to 16 teams who have submitted their proposals so far. Kudos to Artesia, Bosque School, Chaparral Mid, a Home School, Jackson Mid, Las Cruces High, Navajo Prep, Rio Rancho High, Socorro High and a Manzano/Eldorado Cluster! You can submit your proposal today at

http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/proposal_login.php

Look at our archives to see what other teams have proposed in the past.

The housing lists have been given to the Glorieta Conference Center Staff, but if you find a problem with them, please let us know. You can see them at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/housing_session1.html (for session 1) and http://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/housing_session2.html (for session 2).

Science Link
Read how LOGIIC helps keep oil, gas control systems safe at http://www.sandia.gov/news/resources/releases/2006/logiic-project.html

Got questions? consult@challenge.nm.org

Sincerely yours,
Betsy, Celia and David
B, C and D!

Monday Morning Message, October 2, 2006

Welcome to the Supercomputing Challenge Community! We have 366 students and teachers from around the state registered for the 2006 - 07 Challenge! 319 of you are students and 47 are teachers. Several areas need your focus this week:

Your next deadline is Friday, October 6, 2006 when the Team Entry Authorization Form signature sheets and registration fees ($40/student) must be received at:

Supercomputing Challenge
PO BOX 30102
Albuquerque, NM 87190

You can find the form as a PDF, number five on the list, at http://challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml If there is a need for a scholarship for the registration fee, please contact consult@challenge.nm.org

Please ok the website certification and fill out our online survey at https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/pre-survey_login.php as soon as you can. We need this information for the assessment of our program.

Now some news about our kickoff. Two sessions will be held. Schools that are farther than one hundred miles from Glorieta will attend the first session on October 22 and 23, while the schools within one hundred miles attend the second session on October 23 and 24. For each student and teacher attending Glorieta, room and board will be provided for by the Supercomputing Challenge.

Here are the Glorieta Conference Center Rules: http://challenge.nm.org/kickoff/glorieta_rules.shtml Please review them with your team.

All teams attending the Supercomputing Challenge Kickoff Conference must submit a proposal online prior to attending. Teams must also bring a hardcopy of this proposal with them to the conference. Remember, proposals are short and concise ~ no more than 250 words. Information about the proposal can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/proposals/

We will be modeling epidemiology as a group at the kickoff. Wikipedia defines epidemiology as "Epidemiology is the scientific study of factors affecting the health and illness of individuals and populations, and serves as the foundation and logic of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine. It is considered a cornerstone methodology of public health research, and is highly regarded in evidence-based medicine for identifying risk factors for disease and determining optimal treatment approaches to clinical practice." You can read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidemiology

Here is a quote from an alumni from Silver High, Heather Menzer, a four year scholarship winner:
"I am still at Colorado State University finishing my last year as a mechanical engineering student. You would be interested to know that for my senior design project I am on a team that is designing an Urban Search and Rescue Robot to enter in an international RoboCup competition. This has been a very successful project in the past and I have high expectations on our performance this year.
I am so fortunate to have received the Amy Boulanger Memorial Scholarship in 2002 and hope that I will be able to participate/volunteer with Challenge more in the future. The Challenge is such an amazing opportunity for NM students and for me, was one of my greatest accomplishments in high school."
We hope your involvement in the Challenge this year will be a great accomplishment also!

The housing list for the Kickoff Conference at Glorieta will be prepared and published this week. Please let us (consult) know if there are others, such as chaperones and bus drivers, that will need housing at Glorieta, but who haven't registered with us.

Read about the new LANL/IBM supercomputer
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/ fuseaction/nb.story/story_id/8932/nb_date/2006-09-07

Monday Morning Message, September 25, 2006

Happy Autumn,

We are looking forward to spending some beautiful fall days with you at the Glorieta Conference Center, October 22nd - October 24th. Schools more than 100 miles away come on Sunday and Monday. Schools within 100 miles of Glorieta come on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, we will have a joint session with a keynote talk on epidemiology, our theme for the kickoff.

Deadline for registration is the end of this week so get your friends and relatives all registered at http://challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml

We currently have 232 students and 34 teachers. We are busy planning the curriculum for the classes at the kickoff. We are hoping that many of you register this week! Don't forget the online survey! We will be contacting you if you have not signed up for a team or not yet done the online survey!

One of the main sessions at the kickoff is the Meet the Scientist workshop. There, your team and a scientist will sit down and look at your proposal. You MUST bring a hard copy of your proposal with you so that you have something to share. The scientist will ask you questions about your project and make suggestions to the team. Teams have found this invaluable and you can start work now to insure that this time works for you. Proposal information is located at http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals

We are proud to be a statewide program and we already have students from Chaparral Mid School, Silver High School, Bloomfield High School, and Capshaw Mid School in Santa Fe, representing all sections of our state. Welcome to these new schools: Newcomb Mid and High School, the Academy for Technology and Classics in Santa Fe, Jackson Middle School in Albuquerque and Espanola Valley High (who have participated in the past, but not recently). Please let us know how we can help any new school or for that matter, any school! Just write to consult@challenge.nm.org

Each week we will share a science link that we hope you have time to browse and discuss. Shaun Cooper, Challenge mentor and member of the board of directors, shares with us that NMSU has answered this question: How can you get supercomputing power in your own backyard for one-tenth the cost of traditional machines? Build it yourself, answered New Mexico State University computer science and electrical engineering professors. With help from a $75,000 National Science Foundation research instrumentation grant, they built a high-performance supercomputer from scratch.

Sincerely yours,
Betsy, Celia and David
Supercomputing Challenge Consulting, consult@challenge.nm.org

Monday Afternoon Message, September 18, 2006

We currently have 176 students and 23 teachers registered for the 2006 - 07 Challenge. Registration closes on September 30th, so if you haven't yet registered, you have 12 days left.

Please remember to complete the online survey which is part of registration this year. (Thanks to those 100 of you that already did this.) https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/pre-survey_login.php

Many of you (about 75) have registered individually but you need to register or manage your teams also. This can be found at https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/teamreg_login.php

This year at the kickoff in the Meet the Scientist session, each team will receive notification if their proposal is appropriate for a computational science project. So, please submit your proposal according to the guidelines that can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/proposals/proposal_guidelines.shtml

The theme for our Kickoff is going to be epidemiology, the study of diseases. We will start learning about this topic online during October.

Your next deadline is Friday, October 6, 2006 when the Team Entry Authorization Form signature sheets and registration fees ($40/student) must be received at:
Supercomputing Challenge
PO BOX 30102
Albuquerque, NM 87190

You can find this form at number 5 at http://challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml

We are proud to support the Second Annual NM Young Researchers' Banquet. It is November 4, 2006 at the Mariott Uptown (I-40 and Louisiana Blvd. NE). It will feature Guest Speaker Antoine Predock, 2006 American Institute of Architect's Gold Medal Winner. Get details at http://www.gotoif.org/banquet.php

We are looking forward to hearing from many of you with proposals this week.

Monday Morning Message, September 11, 2006

Happy September,

We welcome you to the 17th annual Supercomputing Challenge!

This is the first of the your weekly Monday Morning Messages from Consult (the managing team) and the Challenge. We will be making announcements and giving much information in these messages every week.

Registration is starting off with a bang! We have 106 students and 18 teachers already registered. Thank you, early birds! We are looking forward to a record amount of registrations.

Part of the registration process is an online survey. Only about 1/2 of you, already registered have completed that survey. If you have registered, please make sure that you have filled out that survey, and if you plan to register soon, please make sure also! The survey is located at https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/pre-survey_login.php Just accept the certificate that pops up!

You MUST (yes, we are yelling) have a proposal, a project plan, submitted before you come to Glorieta. Information is available at http://challenge.nm.org/proposals

Our website is new and improved. Please check it at out at http://challenge.nm.org You can view all Monday Morning Messages at http://challenge.nm.org/news_flash.shtml

Please contact consult@challenge.nm.org with any and all questions.

Tuesday Morning Message, September 5, 2006

This message is being sent to the student email list from May 2006. If you have graduated from high school, we wish you the best and if you would like to still be involved with the Supercomputing Challenge, please let us know.

If you haven't graduated from high school, please consider being part of the Supercomputing Challenge again this year.

See http://www.challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml for the registration details.

We are excited to be able to invite you to participate in the 17th Annual Supercomputing Challenge.

Science Link:

Supercomputing satellite hits the road, see http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php?fuseaction=home.story&story_id=8916

Weekly messages from us will be sent to those who register for this year's Supercomputing Challenge.

Monday Morning Message, August 21, 2006

Are you ready for the 17th Annual Supercomputing Challenge?

Start forming teams to participate in the 17th annual New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge.

Registration begins on September 1st.

Registration deadline is September 30th.

Proposals

Hopefully teams have been thinking about their projects and preparing an proposal. See http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals for guidelines and then visit: https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/proposal_login.php to log in to submit or edit the team's proposal.

Kickoff Conference

The Kickoff Conference will be held October 22-24 at the Glorieta Conference Center.

Teachers

Please print a flyer to place in your school for advertisement. http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/invitation_flyer.jpg

Can't wait to see each and every one of you at Glorieta, October 22 - 24th.

Here is the invite link:
http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/06-07/invitation.shtml

Supercomputing Challenge Consulting, consult @ challenge.nm.org

For questions about the Supercomputing Challenge, a 501(c)3 organization, contact us at: consult1516 @ supercomputingchallenge.org New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge, Inc. 80 Cascabel Street Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544 (505) 667-2864

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